Vol. 548 No. 5
143 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the progress made in reviewing measures which were introduced specifically to deal with animal movements during the foot and mouth disease crisis; if and when some of these will be rescinded; the justification for maintaining the ban on the slaughter of lambs imported from Northern Ireland in derogated local authority abattoirs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5527/02]
In the course of the foot and mouth crisis, a number of animal movement and other restrictions were introduced to prevent the introduction of and/or spread of disease. Many of these measures have at this stage been discontinued, having regard to the facts that there has not been a case of FMD in Britain since 30 September 2001, the lifting by the EU of all FMD-related restrictions on trade in animals and animal products from the UK and the recent re-instatement by the OIE, the world animal health body, of the UK to FMD-free status. However, it is critical for the protection of the animal health status of this country, that all of those involved in the agri-food industry should learn lessons from the FMD episode.
In this regard a number of the measures introduced during the FMD crisis have a more general application in the prevention of other animal diseases likely to have a serious impact on the agricultural and other sectors of the economy. The FMD crisis was the second major animal health crisis to strike in the UK within a very short period of time, there had been a serious outbreak of classical swine fever in the south-east of England in 2000.
In these circumstances, a number of controls designed to prevent the introduction of or spread of disease, and to facilitate the tracing of disease in the event of an outbreak, remain in place. These include: the application of full intra community trade and certification rules to trade with Northern Ireland in animals of susceptible species; the retention of restrictions on the frequency of internal livestock movements, e.g. the 30 day rule – these will be kept under review; disinfection and enhanced controls at points of access to the State, i.e. ports and airports, by persons travelling from outside the island of Ireland; and the retention of a range of other measures such as sheep tagging, registration of dealers, regulation of trade in sheep and pigs with Northern Ireland and controls on sheep shearing and AI.
